Hit, run and hide: Drivers who flee crashes frustrate police

7:40 AM,
Dec. 12, 2012

Traffic sign on pavement in street

Written by

Sophia Voravong
svoravong@jconline.com

A year later, 65-year-old Ed Russell of West Point cannot remember what happened the night of Dec. 16, 2011, when he was found unconscious and severely injured on Indiana 25 West - not far from home, according to his mother-in-law, Mary Sweet of Lafayette.

Based on his heavy internal bleeding, crushed hips and other injuries - and that Russell sometimes walked to and from a nearby bar, family said - the Tippecanoe County Sheriff's Office suspects Russell was struck by a vehicle whose driver did not stop or call 911.

To date, a driver has never been arrested or even identified. Meanwhile, ...